Running and Never Letting Go
by inthelittledoctor
Summary: They always seem to be running, and when they are, he insists on her holding his hand. {Whouffaldi}


She's been told by him that when they run, she has to hold his hand. He's given excuse after excuse as to why she must, but she's almost certain it's just because he wants to hold her hand. He wants to feel the warmth of her hand in his and have the comfort of knowing that she is by his side, safe. Wants to have her close to him if there's a chance of her getting hurt so he can protect her.

She has her own reasons for wanting to hold his hand of course. Most of her reasons the same as his. Although her main reason being the fact that holding his hand was one of her favourite things to do and it made her feel like she could fly.

On occasion he'd go to grab her hand and accidentally grab her wrist, feeling her pulse quicken. Most of the time he'd stand there for a moment, just feeling her elevated pulse. Then of course he'd slip his hand down her wrist and intertwine his fingers with hers.

Of course it was complete rubbish that she had to hold his hand while they ran, but she honestly didn't mind holding it at all.

They'd been wandering around an alien planet for a while, both enjoying themselves thoroughly, joining in on the planets customs and seeing the different cultures. They'd been bumping into each other on purpose, teasing the other, intertwining their fingers only to have one of them pull away nervously after a few seconds. Everything has seem to go smoothly for the most part.

And then of course there was the inevitable chaos that always followed their peaceful trips. This time that chaos happened to be a giant creature that burst up through the ground, letting out a blood curdling scream while digging his claws into the ground, pushing himself up.

And as soon as he's seeing this creature, he's grabbing her hand, looking back at her and giving her a small smile. Then she's smiling, while one simple word escapes his mouth.

'Run.'

And with that, they're running. And it never quite feels like they'll stop running. With her hand clasped in his, they run. The wind blowing through her hair, the sounds and sights around her flashing by. She's looking at him as though he's a beacon. The only thing that she can truly focus on while they're running.

He's stopping and she's tripping, her hand still in his. He's quickly spinning around, grabbing her hip with his other hand only to be falling down with her. She's landing on top of him and laughing, resting her ear on his chest. They lay there a moment, catching their breath and smiling like idiots.

'We should probably get up and start running again,' he's saying, his smile evident in his voice.

'Why'd we stop?' She's asking, her voice filled with curiosity.

'Just wanted to make sure you weren't hurt,' he's answering, placing a kiss on her nose,'Now go on, get up, we've got a monster to outrun.'

She's quickly sitting up, looking at him for a moment at seeing him blush. She's furrowing her brow and then realising that she's straddling him. She's apologising quickly and getting up, holding out a hand to help him up. And of course he's not going to decline because it's an excuse to touch Clara Oswald. So he's taking her hand and she's pulling him up, not letting go of his hand once he's standing.

He's tugging on her hand gently and with that they're running. Running running running. Never stopping, never letting go of the other's hand. As they get to the TARDIS, he's pulling her in, slamming the door behind them and rushing to the console, quickly typing coordinates with one hand and and looking over at her, nodding towards the lever. She's smiling and wrapping her hand around it, pulling down on it and feeling the TARDIS shake slightly underneath her.

He's grinning at her and placing their linked hands on the console, readjusting how he was holding hers so they were both comfortable. 'So then, Clara Oswald, where to next?' He's asking, sounding a lot more excited than he has the right to be.

'Somewhere calm,' she's replying, placing her free hand on the edge of the console,'No monsters, no immediate dangers. Just somewhere calm for me to potentially get some marking done.'

He's frowning, his excitement suddenly gone,'There's no running on calm planets.'

'You do realise we don't have to be running in order for you to hold my hand?' She's questioning, casting a quick glance towards their hands.

'I don't want to run just because I get to hold your hand while we run, Clara,' he's lying, tightening his hold on her hand ever so slightly.

She's looking at him like he's an idiot, know that what he just said was a flat out lie. She's pulling her hand away from his and hearing a sound that almost sounds like a whimper come from him. A faint smile is gracing her lips as she makes her way to the staircase leading to her room, telling him that she'll be right back and that he better have picked out a calm planet by the time she returned. She's returning a few minutes later with a pile of tests, telling him to to take them to the planet he'd chosen, only to be told that he'd already taken them there. She's raising an eyebrow at him and walking towards the TARDIS doors, opening one of them fully and looking out, only to see her bedroom on the other side.

'Is this a joke?' She's asking, looking back at him, slightly concerned.

'Nope,' he's replying, striding over to her.

She's frowning slightly and stepping out of the TARDIS, shuffling over to her bed and sitting down on it, her legs crossed. He's following her out and sitting down on the end of the bed next to her, watching as she begins to mark a paper.

'Hold my hand,' he's saying, holding his hand out to her.

She's placing her hand in his without looking up at him, continuing to mark the paper in front of her as if nothing had just happened. He's watching her mark for a bit, intrigued by how bad her students were doing. Four papers later and he's getting bored, beginning to sway his feet slightly, his boots sliding along the floor.

'Why do you like the calm?' He's asking suddenly, genuinely curious as to what her answer would be.

She's placing her pen down and looking up at him, trying to come up with an answer but not really finding one. 'I suppose I just like having something calm in my life every once and a while, considering that most of my life is spent running around with you,' she's replying, looking back down at the paper she was marking and continuing to do so.

'We're always running, Clara. Even when we're some place calm,' he's saying, looking down at their hands.

She's stopping her marking and staring at the paper in front of her, trying to figure out what he just said. She supposed he was right. They were always running. Not just from monsters, but from other things too. So many things. She was running from her life on Earth. He was running from the inevitability of her dying one day. And of course there was the feelings they had for each other that they constantly seemed to ignore and run away from, scared of what might happen if their feelings catch up to them.

So she supposed they were always running from one thing or another. She then laughed at this thought, thinking that that's probably the excuse he gives himself whenever he holds her hand. She's looking over at him and smiling, leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek, giggling as a rosy shade takes over his cheeks. She's getting back to her marking, occasionally squeezing his hand whenever she would feel him begin to grow impatient. She finishes marking and casts her gaze up to him, giving him a small smile. He's smiling back at her and asking her if they could go somewhere exciting. She's laughing and telling him to wait a moment because in all honesty, she just wants to sit here and hold his hand for a little while longer.

Perhaps one day they would stop running. Today, sadly, was not that day.


End file.
